


Rational Functions

by yuletidefairy



Category: Tin Man (2007)
Genre: Dancing, Food, Identity, M/M, Post-Canon, Present Tense, Yuletide 2008
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-25
Updated: 2008-12-25
Packaged: 2017-10-11 20:45:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/116915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletidefairy/pseuds/yuletidefairy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Differentiation formulas can be complex and difficult but ultimately can be relied upon to produce an answer. Integration, on the other hand, is never guaranteed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rational Functions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [katilara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/katilara/gifts).



The witch might be cast out, the rightful queen freed, and the evil machine dismantled and destroyed, but things aren't really all that much better. Azkadellia's reign under the influence of the witch has left a lot of damage that will be years, decades being repaired, including a great deal of infrastructure, and even Azkadellia herself.

There's a lot of work ahead of them, but all Cain can really seem to care about now is Glitch.

Raw had put his brains back, of course. No one had trusted the rubbercoats, and even if they had, they hadn't really pulled the brain with the intent of putting it back. Raw managed, despite a lack of training, using his telepathy. It seemed to have mostly worked, though Glitch  _Ambrose_  had complained about tasting colours and hearing scents after.

But while his brains may be where they belong, he wasn't exactly all better now. And he might never be; the circumstances in which his brains had been pulled were unique enough and, well, they'd never put a headcase's brains _back_ before.

He's been pretty quiet, since, spending a lot of time training physically, or outside. Right now, he's sitting out on one of the covered balconies, watching the rain.

"Hey, doll," Cain says, softly.

"My _name_ is ," Glitch says, and stops suddenly. His laugh is short and bitter. "Well, I guess 'doll' is a little simpler, at that."

"So what's got you out here tonight?" Cain asks.

Glitch looks up at him and purses his lips. "Well, I thought it was so lovely outside, I'd catch myself a chill. Perhaps I can die my death of it."

Cain frowns, and drops down into a crouch next Glitch. "I'd ask what's wrong but I doubt I'll get a straight answer, anyway. Besides, I think I can guess."

"Good for you, tin man," Glitch says. "Tell me, what's my problem?"

Cain pulls his hat off and runs a hand through his hair. He's never been good with people, not like this. Give him a cop's job to do, he can get it done; he even managed mostly with his wife. But this isn't his strength at all.

"Right," Glitch says. "Thought so."

"Look, sweetheart, I know it's got to be difficult for you. Believe me, I know about your mind betraying you. And I can't say it'll get better because nobody really knows. But --"

"Well, that's comforting," Glitch interrupts him, eyes rolling. "You know what would be nice? If I could even figure out who I am. I'm not Glitch, I'm not Ambrose -- I'm both and neither. The only time I feel even half like myself, either way, is when I'm fighting or  dancing."

Cain smiles a little at that. "Well, I can help with that," he says, drily.

"What, fighting? Or dancing?" Glitch asks, a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. It's good to see, the glimpse of the cheerful man Cain got to know as they helped DG.

"Both, actually," he says, smiling.

Glitch laughs, which is better yet. "I'd like to see _that_."

Cain puts his hat back on and straightens out of his crouch. He offers Glitch a hand-up, and when Glitch takes it, pulls him close. "I can dance," he says.

"Really," Glitch breathes, as Cain pulls him into a waltz, humming an old song. Glitch follows, muttering _one-two-three, one-two-three_ softly as they dance.

"Thank you," Glitch says after a bit, still following Cain's lead.

"You're welcome. I haven't " Cain stops and swallows. "I haven't exactly had the chance to dance in a long time."

Glitch misses a step as he looks up at Cain sharply. "I suppose not," he says, faintly.

Cain lets go of Glitch, step backs a bit, and straightens his vest. "I'd be happy to spar with you any time, you know," he says, instead of _please don't, please stay_.

Glitch frowns slightly at him. "Yes, of course," he says. He doesn't step back at all. Glitch  the man Cain met, helping DG  never seemed to have much of a sense of personal space, but Ambrose certainly seemed to value it and other proprieties, and maybe the man in front of him isn't exactly either of them but...

Cain looks out at the rain, which has let up to a drizzle. "I expect the others are wondering where we are," he says flatly.

"Probably," Glitch says, laying a hand on Cain's cheek. "Let 'em wonder."

"This is crazy, you know," Cain whispers. "You hardly know who you are and  I'm not what you'd call a good date."

"You're really not! You could at least take me to dinner, first, you know," Glitch says, mischievously. But there's a wistful note too and Cain can't quite bring himself to walk away.

"You want dinner?" he says. "I can do dinner."

Glitch blinks at him and slowly grins. Cain would do a lot more than dinner to keep that grin there, rare as it's been lately.

* * *

There aren't that many fine dining establishments in Central City, another mark of Azkadellia's reign. People tend not to worry about eating out when they're a lot busier worrying about their lives. But a few survived as people clung to memories of better times. They're not as fine as they once were, but they're still fine enough.

Glitch is still grinning as Cain holds the door to _Jade_ for him.

"I remember eating here," Glitch says. "Before everything went to hell."

Cain pulls his hat off and ducks inside behind Glitch. "I never had the chance," he says.

They don't have a reservation, which might've been a problem, as business has picked up with everyone celebrating the defeat of the witch. As DG pointed out, however, they won't need reservations anywhere for long time; they're among the merry band who saved the O.Z. from Azkadellia's evil reign. "Table for two?" the host asks, his eyes wide.

Cain nods. "Yes. Thank you."

The host takes them back to one of the nicest tables, a secluded corner with a view of both Central City, out the window, and a view of the whole restaurant. Glitch takes the wine menu as they sit down and looks it over. "Oh! You have a Mangaboo daisy wine! We'll have that," he says. The host nods quickly and scampers off to the kitchens.

Cain looks over at Glitch. He's really not quite Glitch, not even with a smile on his face  ordering wine comfortably isn't something he'd ever have done.

Glitch frowns, after a moment. "What are you staring at?" he asks, crankily. "My face hasn't changed, you know."

"I was just thinking," Cain says. It's true enough.

"Hm," Glitch says, contemplatively. "I must say, personal identity crisis aside, it _is_ refreshing that I can actually do that myself, now. DG's protestations aside, I really couldn't think properly with my brains in a jar of fluid. Brains properly belong in the skull, talking to the body."

Cain looks down at his hands, uncomfortably. He'd almost had to take away Glitch's  Ambrose's  chance to be whole again, to save the O.Z. "Yeah, I'm glad you're in one piece, again," he says.

"Heh," Glitch laughs, giddily. "Did you know, if you had shot my brains, I'd have gone catatonic?"

Cain stares. "No," he says, faintly, barely pausing to wonder at how Glitch knew what he'd been thinking. "I didn't."

"Oh, yes. I'd been under a bit of a misconception, understandably I think. I didn't have half a brain at all. I had my brain stem but everything else was in that jar. I just had a very _strong_ attachment to my brain  they could yank it out of my head but they couldn't break that. That's why Raw had to put my brains back. Well, aside from us not trusting Azkadee's mad scientist lot; we needed a viewer, someone who could sense when things were hooked up right."

Cain tries to remember how to breathe. "So if I'd shot out the cortex, it would've killed you," he manages to say.

"Oh, no," Glitch says. "Like I said, I had my brain stem. I'd have just gone into a coma and probably never recovered any higher brain function."

Cain swallows. "Great."

Glitch frowns at him again, perhaps realising that his choice of conversation topic was less than cheerful. Thankfully, their actual waiter comes by with the bottle of wine, and two glasses. Cain's never entirely understood the ritual behind wine, the opening, the sniffing, the tasting, but Glitch takes his time with it. The waiter looks relieved when Glitch smiles and nods.

"Tonight's chef's special is nunfish fresh off the shores of Seeweegia, in a Plenta-style sauce. We also have Noland mountain goat, in a spicy cocoanut milk curry."

Cain shrugs at Glitch. "Okay," Glitch says. "He'll have the goat, I'll have the nunfish."

"So," Cain says, a little desperately as the waiter disappears with their orders. "You ate out often?"

"Oh, yes," Glitch says. "Sometimes I had to be dragged out to go eat, usually by my assistant. But yes. I was never much good at cooking. Did you? Eat out much, I mean."

Cain swallows, and shrugs. "Not really. A tin man's salary didn't cover a lot of eating out, not even one who's been assigned to the Mystic Man  and after Azkadellia took over, we weren't in the city much."

The nunfish and the goat are quite good; Glitch eats from both their dishes carefully, almost delicately, savouring every bite. They actually manage to get through dinner without tripping over too many more conversational land mines, despite Glitch's comment about the sauce on the nunfish tasting like the most delicate sort of amethyst.

Dessert is a huge, frothy chocolate mousse. It suits Glitch, Cain thinks.

"This is still crazy," Cain says, after dinner, as they walk back to the palace, such as it is.

Glitch looks over at him. He just looks tired. "It probably is," he says. "But I can just about feel like a sane person around you, Cain, so I really don't care. Why do you?"

Cain rubs a hand over his face. He had time enough to mourn Adora in that damn suit, but it's been a long time since he's had anyone to care about like this. "I think I could love you," he says, quietly. "And that's not something I know what do with. It's probably a near thing that I'm even sane; I was locked in there a good ten years. The only thing that really kept me going was revenge. Love..." he trails off, not sure what to say.

"Well," Glitch says with a small laugh, after an awkward silence. "Professional psychiatric care would probably do us both a lot of good."

Cain opens his mouth to say something to that but before he can, Glitch is kissing him. It's gentle, almost chaste, barely a kiss at all, until Cain brings a hand up to cup Glitch's face, and then suddenly it's not gentle at all.

"I meant it," Glitch says, pulling away finally to catch his breath. "Dancing and sparring and, well, _you_. I just about feel sane around you. So maybe it's kind of crazy, but it's better than being completely crazy."

Cain licks his lips and tries to remember how to breathe.

"All right, sweetheart," he says, feeling lighter than he has in a long time, and draws Glitch back down for another kiss.


End file.
